The cost of replacing Clyde Bridge is more than double the original estimated price due to rising prices in the construction industry.
At South Lanarkshire Council’s executive committee meeting on Wednesday (March 2) the full cost of the bridge was revealed as well as the estimated increase which is due to a surge in material prices.
Tenders for the construction of the bridge are estimating that the total cost of the project will be £7.25m and the expected increase of cost in the project is due to material price increases and other cost pressures in the construction industry.
Rises in steel prices are a major factor and contractors do not see the increases stopping – and they have also received further correspondence from their supply chain that increases will continue throughout the year.
There have also been struggles as contractors withdrew after the council accepted tenders due to increasing pressures and rising material prices.
Councillor Alex Allison (Clydesdale East) who has continuously pushed for the bridge to be replaced, said: “I’m not really sure what to say about this because it is not a council fault this time that things have fallen apart.
"For members’ information, prices for steel went up by 20 per cent on Monday – it’s £200 a tonne, which will significantly affect what is happening here and will indicate why a lot of the subcontractors have pulled out.
“What it also shows is that things are changing very quickly and therefore when we are working with the council there is a lot of process that has to follow and that is perhaps hindering us more than anything at the moment.
"For instance I think it was in early autumn when these tenders were actually received, changes since then have been significant and I think that I would like to ask that every opportunity is taken to get this to happen and as quickly as possible.
“We have to continually wait on the committee to make a decision on a process to go through, we are going to lose out because the situation is changing far quicker than we are reacting, and it is not a criticism it is an observation.”
The replacement of the bridge is seen as urgent and essential to reinstate an important transport link in the local road network and to remove the current inconvenient diversion.
Given the current available budget for Clyde Bridge is around £3.5m and the overall estimated cost is £7.25m, a funding package has been outlined to complete the works.
The balance of £3.75m will be added to the council’s general services capital programme to allow the project to go ahead. Funding has been identified from a range of different sources.
The recent local bridge maintenance funding award of £1.591m for Ponfeigh Bridge could allow council funding if it is diverted to Clyde Bridge instead.
Income is due from a developer in relation to works delivered and completed by the council in 2019, by way of a collaboration infrastructure agreement, using roads investment funding at Hamilton Technology Park which is estimated to generate £1m.
A further estimate of £0.650 is to be added from a proportion of the cycling, walking and safer routes funding from 2022/23 on the basis that the bridge will connect communities and provide opportunities for active and sustainable travel.
The additional funding totals £3.241m, leaving a balance of £509,000 which would be met by slicing some of the road’s and carriageways and associated infrastructure capital allocation over the next two financial years – £250,000 in 2022/23 and £259,000 in 2023/24.
The council are working hard to secure contractors to complete the work of the bridge and everything is being done to get the bridge built as quickly as possible.
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